Signal
Signal turns a frame into a moving field of scanlines. It can feel like damaged transmission, a controlled echo, or a graphic pulse that follows the image. Start with a clear subject and let the controls decide whether the field stays clean or pulls apart.
Choose a signal style
Signal Style offers Square, Bi, Edge, Sound, and Layered. Square begins with a direct blocky signal. Bi gives the movement a two-sided character. Edge follows image boundaries. Sound produces a more waveform-like response. Layered opens the echo controls and is the place to build repeat trails.
Shape the motion
| Control | What it changes |
|---|---|
| Intensity | Raise it from its default of 50 to push the signal farther. Its range is 0-500. |
| Direction | Chooses the direction in which the signal accumulates along each line. |
| Orientation | Rotates the scanline field. |
| Invert | Flips the brightness signal that drives the effect. |
| Color Scheme | Chooses displaced source color, luma, complementary color, or independent source channels. |
| Frequency | Adds wave oscillation from 0-100. |
| Phase Offset | Slides the wave through its cycle without changing speed. |
| Contour | Raises the degree to which brightness shapes the wave. |
| Speed | Animates the field from -10 to 10. Negative values run in reverse. |
| Falloff | Fades the effect toward the frame edges. |
Use Smooth 1 through Smooth 4 to lengthen and compound the signal. Higher values make the movement carry farther. Set Smooth 4 to 0 when the last smoothing stage feels too soft. Adaptive changes how trails respond near edges: positive values reduce them there, while negative values increase them.
Build a layered echo
With Signal Style: Layered, Echo Distance sets the space between the source and its echoes. Raise Echo Growth to widen the later gaps. Echo 1 through Echo 4 set the strength of each repeat, so a trail can fade naturally instead of repeating at one level.
Echo Tail controls what happens after the fourth echo. At 0, the effect ends there. Around 1, repeats sustain. Above 1, the field grows into feedback. Add Echo Mutation after the spacing feels right. At 0, echoes remain clean copies; higher values bend and break the later repeats.
Try this: a title-card transmission pulse
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Choose Signal Style: Layered and place a title or logo over a high-contrast background.
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Set Echo Distance low, then raise Echo 1 and Echo 2 while leaving Echo 3 and Echo 4 quieter.
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Animate Intensity upward for the entry, then return it toward the starting value.
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Add a small positive Speed and a little Contour so the pulse takes its shape from the title.
Try this: an edge-led wipe
Choose Signal Style: Edge, turn Contour up, and rotate Orientation to suit the frame. Animate Phase Offset for a moving boundary without changing the pace of the field. If the edge treatment reaches too far, lower Intensity before adding more smoothing.
When the signal feels crowded
Lower Intensity or reduce the loudest Echo levels first. If the echoes still read as one block, increase Echo Distance. If a moving wave distracts from the edit, lower Frequency or set Speed to 0 and animate Phase Offset only when the shot needs movement.